A Montana school district is offering $4,000 bonuses as they struggle to fill bus-driving positions and kids start returning to in-person classes. First Student, a company that contracts bus service for school districts, recently held the “Big Bus, No Big Deal” test driving event in Helena to generate interest in transporting kids to school, b...
Mask Debate In Public Schools Heats Up As School Year Begins
Following a last-minute reversal by School District 2 Superintendent Greg Upham to require students, teachers and staff to wear masks in school, a crowd of about 200 people gathered in Pioneer Park in Billings yesterday to express their disapproval of this decision and to pressure the district into revisiting the issue. Options mentioned at th...
New Research Shows Montana Had Successful Recovery From Pandemic
Montana has seen a strong and quick rebound from the economic impacts of the COVID crisis, according to a recent mid-year report sponsored by the Montana Chamber of Commerce. Head of the UM Bureau of Business and Economic Research Dr. Patrick Barkey reported that the COVID-19 pandemic brought down predicted growth in personal income and gross ...
Governor Gianforte To Visit Montana Fair To Promote Trade Education
Investing in trades education and empowering workers with in-demand skills is a signature element of Governor Greg Gianforte’s Montana Comeback plan. The Montana Trades Education Credit provides $1 mill per year in 50-percent credits to businesses for their employees to learn a trade. At 3 p.m. this afternoon, Gianforte will kick of the ...
U.S. Borders To Remain Closed At Least One More Month
The Department of Homeland Security today announced the U.S. is extending the nonessential closure of its northern and southern borders to at least September 21 due to the delta variant of the coronavirus. Montana Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines both denounced the decision through in respective statements saying the continued closure of t...
Yellowstone National Park Breaks All-Time Visitation Records
Yellowstone National Park hosted 1,080,767 recreation visits in July making it the most-visited July on record a 13% increase from July 2020 and up 15% from 2019. This July also marked the most-visited month on record in Yellowstone’s history and the first-time visitation exceeded 1 million visits in a single month. So far in 2021, the park ha...
U.S. Department of Interior To Review Coal’s Environmental Impact
A review of climate damage caused by coal mining on public lands was launched Thursday by the U.S. Interior Department as the Biden administration expands its scrutiny of government fossil fuel sales that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The review also will consider if companies are paying fair value for coal extracted from public rese...
Help Improve Mule deer habitat at Wyoming’s Pinedale Mesa
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department is partnering with the Bureau of Land Management to improve mule deer habitat on the Pinedale Mesa south of Pinedale and could use some help from volunteers. Overgrown, unproductive sagebrush is being removed in places and being replaced with over 2,700 seedlings of preferred browse species including chokec...
EPA Bans Chlorpyrifos Pesticide
The Environmental Protection Agency is banning a common pesticide widely used since 1965 on fruits and vegetables in the Midwest and North Dakota. Nadia Ramligan from Pacifica Network and Public News Service reports. https://northernbroadcasting.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/8-20_637.mp3
1st COVID Case In Montana State Prison Reported In 2 Months
The Montana State Prison has reported its first COVID-19 cases among inmates at the facility since May. The Montana Department of Corrections reported three new cases on its website this week bringing the total cases among inmates there to 493 since its first case last October. One inmate is currently hospitalized while six have died from comp...